[:(][:(][:(][?][?][?]Why all of the poles[?][?][?]some of them do’nt have any thing to do with model rail roading[V][V]What diffrence do’es it make if Iam and good engineer or not[?] Gas prices[?] what does that have to do with model rail roads[?]ECT,ECT,ECT.[8][8]
Like how real are you,do you make air nosie ECT,ECT I think these polls are getting out of hand[:(!][:(!][^]My 2cents worth.
JIM
Jim,
Think about why polls are conducted! I belive the members are trying to get an idea of how and what others think and do. Talking to others in cyber space is really feelingless and I believe they are just looking for others who do the same as them, Much like yourself your looking for others to agree with you about polls which is a good thing.its only human to search out those whom are like minded as ourselfs. Its not my place to judge them or there polls I reply to ones that fit me others that do not, I can simple choose not to take. I guess if nobody like them nobody would participate in them. [2c]
Polls are useless, because they probably don’t represent anywhere near accurate results. I usually don’t even bother to read them, let alone vote. When you consider the statistics on how many people use these forums and how many vote, they represent only a very small segment of the users – probably 2 percent or less.
Should I “flick the switch” that gives any user the ability to post a poll (thus taking the power away)?
Bergie
Maybe you should take a poll to see if we should have polls?
No, I don’t think so. I think the “member polls” are a way for someone to find out how people feel about some aspect of model railroading that is of significant interest to them, or to find out if people agree or disagree with something that they feel strongly about. As long as the polls are on topic I’m okay with them. I reply to the ones that interest me and skip the ones that don’t.
YES!! A thousand times yes!!! A total waste of bandwidth, and the endless polls push messages that are relevant to this hobby down in the list.
PLEASE!
Bob Boudreau
Bergie,
I have your job on another site. The question I have for you would be what harm do the polls do? Would shutting down the polls cause more people to be upset at the lack of freedom that the people who are annoyed seeing them on the board.
People when they figure a new thing out want to try them. Sometimes a lot of people want to try them all at once. It goes in cylces.
You do a good job as moderator. You know you have to pick your battles carefully.
Why do they push messages down–because people enjoy giving their opinion. IT may not be your kind of post, but it gives other people who may not know as much as others a chance to participate and contribute.
I’ve got no problem with the polls…
No.
Occasionally the number of polls get a little thick while their value may be a little thin, but since they aren’t “sticky,” they get pushed out of the way if people aren’t interested in them. They’re just another way to start a conversation.
All polls are is a request for information of a comparative nature. As someone with an extensive background in research would know, there are polls and there are polls.
I think what jerks Bob’s chain is that they are too often poorly stated and don’t offer a substantive range of choices for many of the potential respondants to select. Therefore, their results are generally of limited value. Also, they tend to be repetitious…not unlike the vast majority of topics initiated ever since this forum commenced. Also, most of us enjoy coming back to this forum after several hours away and hope to see our own topic still there on the front page, or at least most of the others that we were participating in.
In fairness, though, we have just come through a rough spot (I wish I could say that I came through it unruffled), so many of us still have our dander up.
Really and truly, the best way for any person in a quasi-democratic forum to have his /her views represented is to refrain from engaging in conversations that are offputting or that have no particular merit or relevance for you. Just stay off those threads. What could be easier? If they proliferate, then you suck it up and accept that others’ views leave you in the minority.
Works for me, and when I chose to get sucked in to contentious subjects, I do so at my own peril…as I learned.
If you’ve been online in forums for any length of time, you realize there’s a lot of chaff and sometimes not much grain in the discussions.
The LD SIG list I belong to sees it’s share of chaff as well. Someone will ask a design question, someone will answer and comment on a prototype outing they had that demonstrated the design issue, then someone else will chime in about the time they went on an outing and encountered snakes, then before you know it, we’re talking about what kind of snakes live in various parts of the country, did you see the latest animal planet episode on snakes, etc… [;)]
With a forum like this one, if you get tired of certain threads, then stop replying to them. Reply to the threads that interest you, or start up an on-topic thread of your own and pu***he chaff off the page.
Please keep the polls! None of us have to read them and it is easy to pick out the painfully inane ones and avoid them. Those seem to draw a lot o attention and I think it is a good way to keep down the volume of chaff to sort through or good solid information.
Personally I think that when everyone goes back indoors and starts whoring on their layouts and running into specific problems we will get more of the focused topics that are the real gold here.
“…whoring on their layouts…”? Okay, I’m curious…[:D]
it does have stuff with model railroading. Im just curious how you guys operate, you dont like em , dont post, simple. Im happy that ive been attacked, have a good day.
Alec
There is absolutely nothing wrong with POLLS. If I am not interested in the subject, I simply don’t read it. Is that too difficult? Obviously, some of you guys open the poll even though you are not interested…WHY? And if you get up on th wrong side of the bed, do us all a favor please, “push your bed against the OTHER wall and get up on the RIGHT side”.
Since you asked, my vote is ‘no’. Keep them.
While I don’t read many of them and vote in even fewer, I don’t see any harm in them. To me, it’s just like any other thread that I’m not interested in, I just pass it by.
jmho
Regards
Ed
Not yet, anyway. Most of them are useless, and I read and respond to very few. That said, they are also harmless.
Now if we start getting polls on the same topics as the more contentous threads we’ve had recently, you will have to use your best judgement. That may mean changing that “no” to a “yes.”
By the way, Bergie. Things around here the last month or so have been more difficult than usual. I, for one, appreciate your efforts to keep things halfway civil.
Keep the polls, Bergie. They do no harm (most, anyway), help start conversations and provide grist for those who like to complain. LOL
On another forum that started out by comparing the price of a tank of gas with the price of a new Kato engine, the thread ran on for a while about gas prices, big vehicle gas hogs, even mopeds were mentioned. In my last post to that thread, I suggested to an Aussie mate that he write to me directly if he wanted to keep comparing notes because we were no longer talking about trains. I love talking about anything to anybody, but I don’t want to waste other people’s time by doing so. Better off going private. (Remember when you were asked to change frequencies on your CB radio to keep a conversation going? Same thing.)
I agree with what most have said here: if you don’t have an interest in the topic, go on to something else.
And I’d love to have a better explanation from bukwrm about the ‘whoring’ part. Whole new image of model railroading!!! ROFLOL
Darrell, being quiet…for now